§ 11-139-8

The corporate authorities of any municipality availing itself of this Division 139 may (1) make, enact, and enforce all needful rules and regulations for the acquisition, construction, extension, improvement, management, and maintenance of the combined waterworks and sewerage system of the municipality and for the use thereof, (2) make, enact, and enforce all needful rules, regulations, and ordinances for the care and protection of such a system, which may be conducive to the preservation of the public health, comfort, and convenience and to rendering the water supply of the municipality pure and the sewerage harmless insofar as it is reasonably possible to do so, and (3) charge the inhabitants thereof a reasonable compensation for the use and service of the combined waterworks and sewerage system and to establish rates for that purpose. Separate rates may be fixed for the water and sewer services respectively or single rates may be fixed for the combined water and sewer services. Separate rates may be fixed for any water services to any other municipality and separate sewer rates to any industrial establishment for the purposes set forth in Section 11-139-2. These rates, whether separate or combined, shall be sufficient at all times to (1) pay the cost of operation and maintenance of the combined waterworks and sewerage system, (2) provide an adequate depreciation fund, and (3) pay the principal of and interest upon all revenue bonds issued under this Division. Rates shall be established, revised, and maintained by ordinance and become payable as the corporate authorities may determine by ordinance. Whenever a municipality shall issue revenue bonds as provided by this Division to pay the cost of the extension or improvement of its combined waterworks and sewerage system or any part thereof to serve a particular area of the municipality, the municipality may vary its rates to be charged for the water and sewer services of the system or for either of them effective upon the issuance of bonds as provided by this division to pay the cost of the extension or improvement of its combined waterworks or sewerage system or any part thereof to serve a particular area of a municipality so that the rates to be charged for services in the particular area to be served by such extension or improvement shall be calculated to produce, in addition to the revenues generally to be produced by such rates, sufficient funds to pay the principal of and interest upon the revenue bonds issued to pay the cost of such extension or improvement for that particular area. Such charges or rates are liens upon the real estate upon or for which service is supplied whenever the charges or rates become delinquent as provided by the ordinance of the municipality fixing a delinquency date; except the charges or rates established by contract for the supply of water to another municipality. A lien is created under the preceding sentence only if the municipality sends to the owner or owners of record of the real estate, as referenced by the taxpayer's identification number, (i) a copy of each delinquency notice sent to the person who is delinquent in paying the charges or rates or other notice sufficient to inform the owner or owners of record, as referenced by the taxpayer's identification number, that the charges or rates have become delinquent and (ii) a notice that unpaid charges or rates may create a lien on the real estate under this Section. However, the municipality has no preference over the rights of any purchaser, mortgagee, judgment creditor, or other lien holder arising prior to the filing of the notice of such a lien in the office of the recorder of the county in which such real estate is located, or in the office of the registrar of titles of such county if the property affected is registered under "An Act concerning land titles", approved May 1, 1897, as amended. This notice shall consist of a sworn statement setting out (1) a description of such real estate sufficient for the identification thereof, (2) the amount of money due for such service, and (3) the date when such amount became delinquent. The municipality shall send a copy of the notice of the lien to the owner or owners of record of the real estate, as referenced by the taxpayer's identification number. The municipality has the power to foreclose this lien in the same manner and with the same effect as in the foreclosure of mortgages on real estate. The municipality also has the power, from time to time, to sue the occupant or user of the real estate in a civil action to recover the money due for services rendered, plus a reasonable attorney's fee, to be fixed by the court. Whenever a judgment is entered in such a civil action the foregoing provisions in this section with respect to filing sworn statements of such delinquencies in the office of the recorder and creating a lien against the real estate shall not be effective thereafter as to charges sued upon and no lien shall exist thereafter against the real estate for the delinquency. Judgment in such a civil action operates as a release and waiver of the lien for the amount of the judgment.

Legislative History

(Source: P.A. 87-1197.)